On Sun, Jan 19, 2014 at 10:55 PM, Peter wrote:
If you like, browse through the refugee statistics as provided by the UNHCR, e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_refugee_ population
You will find the vast majority are not about to run over Australia anytime soon. The refugee population in the neighbouring countries is tiny compared to other regions of the world. Furthermore, it is much
harder to reach Australia than other parts f the world.
Surely you don't think that geographic proximity on its own is a serious impediment to the flow of refugees to Australia? It is nearly 7,000 km from Sri Lanka and 9.500 km from Afghanistan to Australia but significant numbers get here in spite of the many difficult obstacles that we put up. If you are proposing an open door policy then any refugee who can come up with $2k by one means or another (eg a loan from a relative or a loan shark) would have the chance to fly here. As Melissa Parke from the Greens pointed out in her speech, we make it difficult for refugees to come here by airplane. According to the same Ms Parke, the Greens' policy is to increase the quota and to accept every refugee who arrives here by boat. Impediments to arriving by air would apparently be retained (not stated, but implied). As we saw when the ALP liberalized policy, this would result in a massive increase in arrivals by boat. You, and others, are confusing the numbers who show up in a regime of great impediments with the numbers who would show up when the impediments are removed. The fact that the Greens would retain impediments to arriving by plane reflects this fact. Tim